Way Down in New Orleans
by timca698
Summary: When Bonnie hears about something happening with the witches of New Orleans, she's intrigued. Caroline, however, takes advantage of the situation to arrange an Originals family reunion in their once home. Klaroline, Stebekah and Kennett.
1. Chapter 1

**So this is an idea I had today that I decided to write down. I don't often do this, usually they just stay in my head and never get beyond a few fragments. Hopefully this one will be different.**

 **It is set when everyone is a few years older, ignoring anything happening or that has happened on TVD or TO. Caroline and Klaus are together (no Hayley, no Hope), Rebekah and Stefan are together, as are Bonnie and Kol (so obviously he didn't die). They go to New Orleans for the first time since Mikael forced them to flee, and discover the same situation that happened at the start of Season 1 of TO, however the witches reached out to Bonnie to help them. I own nothing except my own ideas, because if I did, the shows would be soooo different. Enjoy!**

They were laughing as they walked into the bar, reminiscing about old times, happy times, when they were all together. Caroline was leaning into Bonnie, bent over at the waist as she snorted her way through the door. Stefan brought up the rear, running his hand through his hair as he watched the girls make their way to the bar. Caroline ordered a bottle of champagne and two glasses, muttering "It's our thing," as Bonnie gave her a knowing look. Bonnie ordered a shot and a beer, and Stefan a bottle of Scotch.

The waitress, a blonde with a vague resemblance to Caroline, questioned their I.D.s. Caroline leaned over the bar and looked into her eyes, "We're over 21, and you're going to serve us all night," she compelled. It wasn't as though they were actually under 21, but Caroline and Stefan's curse was to perpetually look 17. At least Bonnie looked age appropriate, having turned 23 just last week. The blonde behind the bar gave them their drinks and they headed toward a booth near the pool tables. None of them saw her sneak out the back and get out her phone.

"Marcel," she said quietly, "There are some vampires at the bar that I've never seen before. One of them tried to compel me."

"I'll be right there. I'll bring some of my guys for backup in case they become a problem," Marcel replied.

Stefan had headed over to the pool tables after a few drinks, determined to hone his skills. He couldn't believe Bonnie, of all people, had beaten him when they were last together. Bonnie, who, when they had lived in Mystic Falls, was terrible at pool. Stefan was determined he wouldn't be beaten by her again, and if they ended up playing doubles later, he already had a hindrance on his team. Rebekah was good at a lot of things, but pool was not one of them.

The girls watched for a bit, laughing at the serious expression on Stefan's face as he lined up a shot.

"So you still haven't told him you cheated last time?" Caroline asked.

"Nope. I'll hold it over him forever. Also, its a sign of how good my magic is, that he didn't notice I was using it to sink the balls."

Caroline snorted again as Bonnie whispered a quiet spell that veered Stefan's ball slightly to the left, away from the hole it was headed towards. Stefan's frown was immediate.

"Magic's not allowed in the Quarter, chere." Caroline and Bonnie looked up to see a good looking black man smiling down at them. _His smile is as fake as he is handsome,_ thought Caroline, _And I should know._

"It's not?" Questioned Bonnie. "And who are you, to tell me what to do with my magic?"

"My name's Marcel, and I'm the King of the Quarter, cher," he said, smile still in place. "And I'm telling you magic isn't allowed here. You don't want to know what happens if you ignore me."

Bonnie's expression turned contemplative. "Do I not? Are you going to have that witch you keep in that church attic do something to me? Or do you plan to kill me yourself?"

Marcel's face changed from insincere smile to shocked in a heartbeat. "How do you know about her?"

"Why do you think we're here?" Asked Bonnie, gesturing at Caroline and herself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two!**

 **Thanks to anyone who Followed, Favourited and Reviewed. I woke up this morning to a crazy amount of emails (I live in New Zealand, by the way, so I am sure this will be updated as most of you sleep). Again, it isn't the longest chapter, but I'm impressed with myself that I managed to get it done this quickly. I think,but could change my mind, that a flashback chapter will go between every second chapter set in the bar. So, happy reading.**

* * *

Four weeks ago - Bonnie and Kol

"KOL!" Yelled Bonnie. "Kitchen, now!"

Kol had been around for a long time. Too long to ever enter a room when someone was yelling for him with that much angry vehemence. So, being the smart man that he was, Kol paused on the stairs and yelled back, "What?" He immediately hunched over and held onto his head in preparation for the aneurysm that was sure to follow his shout.

After a few seconds of nothing happening, he stood cautiously, and was immediately struck with a pain in his head that lasted only a second. He looked up to see Bonnie leaning against the door-frame, arms crossed and a smug smile on her face.

"What? You were in the duck-and-cover position, so I decided to take advantage of it," she said, in mock defense of her actions. "Anyway, could you come into the kitchen please?"

Kol walked down the last of the stairs, and headed in her direction. At the last second, he swooped down and picked her up, carrying her bridal-style into their kitchen. He placed her sitting down on the kitchen island and pushed her knees apart to stand between them.

"What is it, my love? Do you wish to tell me that moving in with me was the best decision of your life? Because I already know that." He trailed his fingertips down her cheek. He knew what it was, of course; he could see the mess he had made behind her that he had been studiously ignoring for the better part of a week.

"Kol," Bonnie stated in a serious tone, batting his hand away from her face. "You need to do something about this. When I agreed to move in, which, by the way I only did last week, I didn't agree to be your maid. In fact, I'm not sure why you fired the maid you already had. And if you say you though I would clean up after you, I'm calling Caroline to bring me your dagger."

Kol wisely held his tongue - after all, at over 1000 years old, he was no fool. Instead he sighed, and said, "I didn't fire the maid. I may have had some people over last week, and one of them may or may not have accidentally killed her. I haven't gotten around to replacing her yet. I thought that was something we could do together."

He smiled as he finished his sentence, thinking he was such a good boyfriend. In his experience, girls loved doing couple-stuff together. Especially hiring servants. Before Nik had daggered him that last time, a perk when girls had gotten married was having their own staff to boss around. Bonnie may be different, and amazing and bossy, but surely girls hadn't changed that much in a hundred years. Bekah still loved bossing people around. Proof he was right.

* * *

Bonnie could literally feel her face settle into an unimpressed frown, her right eyebrow raised in disbelief. He stood in front of her, a proud look on his face like he had offered her her dream come true. To be honest, Bonnie couldn't imagine ever being in a house big enough to warrant a maid, but then she hadn't imagined ever agreeing to live with Kol. Still, what was Kol thinking, to imagine she would want to deal with finding a new maid enough to be that pleased with himself?

She shut her eyes and inhaled deeply, remembering her yoga breathing when she thought of the state of the kitchen behind her. It was in the middle of this breath that she collapsed and blood started gushing out her nose. Not that she was aware of it, but it sent Kol into a panic.

When she opened her eyes again, she was still sitting on the kitchen island, but Kol had been replaced by a woman she didn't know. Immediately on the defensive, Bonnie demanded to know who she was.

"My name is Jayne-Anne Devereaux. I am giving up my life to get this message to you."

"Bonnie Bennett," Bonnie replied.

"I know that you are a Bennett, and that is why I have come to you. For some time, my coven has been prevented from, and punished for, doing magic. We practice Ancestral Magic in New Orleans, which is why we cannot leave. If we do, we lose our connection to our ancestors, and our magic. Though they do not reside with mine, your ancestors are known to all as powerful witches; witches who have performed unimaginable magic."

"I am well aware of what my ancestors have done," Bonnie responded, unimpressed by both the woman, and Kol now having a valid excuse to ignore the kitchen. "What do you expect me to do for you?"

"My coven, all of the covens of New Orleans, implore you to come and free us from Marcel. He and his vampires kill any who perform magic, and they always know when we do. They rule our city with fear, but also with power."

"How do they know when you perform magic?"

"We were performing a ritual, to reaffirm the bond with our ancestors, when Marcel came and took one of our number, a girl named Davina. She is very powerful, but we do not know where he is keeping her, nor what he holds over her to get her to betray her coven."

"So you want me to come to New Orleans, find this Davina, free her from Marcel, and then...?"

"Kill Marcel and any who follow him."


	3. Chapter 3

**First of all, thank you again to everyone who is following this story. I apologise for any typos; spell and grammar checking my own writing is something I am not good at. I've written a story outline, which I didn't have before, so hopefully I wont go on any weird tangents that don't follow the main body of the story. There should be about 9 or so chapters, and I hope to have them up pretty regularly. There's nothing worse than finding a story and getting to the end of it, only to find it isn't finished and hasn't been updated in months (or years! Which has happened to me).**

* * *

 **C** **hapter 3**

Present Day - New Orleans

"Why do you think we're here?"

Marcel wasn't sure how to respond. Davina was his secret weapon, they had been keeping each other safe for more than a year. Marcel had been keeping her from the witches who would harm her, and in return she had been telling him when the covens were performing magic. He schooled his face back to an impassive mask, and asked, "Who are you?"

The witch and her vampire companion smiled slightly, and the witch replied, "My name is Bonnie. This is my friend Caroline." The blonde vampire, Caroline, gave a small wave as she was introduced. Caroline was a surprise to Marcel. She seemed to be quite young for a vampire, but very in control. _Perhaps it is a facade,_ he thought, _and she is using this witch to attempt a coup to take over New Orleans._ She continued to drink her champagne, the second glass beside her remaining clean and empty.

"Waiting for someone, cher?" He asked, nodding at her glass, moving to neutral ground in an effort to regroup his scattered thoughts. Hopefully Davina was safe. She was the strongest witch he had ever met, and he had known many. She would have called him if something had happened.

"Hmm, yes, my boyfriend," Caroline responded. "Would you care to join us, Marcel? We're very interested in how you became the King of the Quarter. I would love to hear it from the horse's mouth, so to speak."

Bonnie nodded in agreement with her friend, "Please, join us Marcel." He heard some steel come into her voice, telling him it was not an option to refuse her, but that maybe she would enjoy it if he tried. If she had the power to harm Davina, she was not to be underestimated. Perhaps he could smooth things over with her, he thought, and turned on his thousand watt smile.

* * *

"So really, you inherited your position from your adoptive father-slash-sire?" Caroline asked.

"Inherited, yes, but I have improved on his style of ruling. The city is run by vampires; we keep the witches and wolves in check, and in return we have peace." His smile was still in place, but it was getting harder and harder to pretend to be unaffected by their questions. It seemed to him as though they knew the answers already, and were toying with him.

"You keep the witches in check," Bonnie repeated. "I'm not so sure that's your job, Marcel. After all, vampires are an abomination brought about by a witch, surely its our job to keep _you_ in check?" Bonnie and Caroline were enjoying winding Marcel up. After all, he didn't know they agreed with him when it came to this city's witches. Who thought murdering four girls for little better a reason than ancestor worship was a good idea? Jayne-Anne and Davina's coven, that's who. _Not that they were ever going to have that option again,_ Bonnie thought.

Caroline subtlety looked for Stefan as she gestured to the blonde waitress for another bottle of champagne. Her alcohol tolerance was high, but Klaus better turn up soon, or he would ruin her reunion plans. She saw Stefan was still by the pool table, a look of concentration on his face as he studiously ignored what was happening at their table. She took her phone out under the table and sent him a quick text, _I assume you're paying attention to our conversation, so if it turns bad, go get Klaus. Don't respond, it will look suspicious._

She turned back to Marcel, her Miss Mystic Falls smile in place as she said, "If your minions would like to join us, I'm sure we can get a bigger table." She gestured around the bar, and four vampires turned to look toward Marcel for guidance. He waved them over, unsure what the blonde vampire was up to.

* * *

Stefan felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket. Making sure to keep listening in on Caroline and Bonnie's conversation, he fished out his phone and checked the message. _As if I would ever run to Klaus for help._ _I would let Bekah know,_ he thought, _and she could get Klaus._ He and Klaus were friends again, and he was even okay with Kol. If they knew he left Caroline and Bonnie in danger, he didn't know which of the two would kill him more painfully, or more slowly. Besides, he could handle Marcel and a it wasn't like Bonnie or Caroline were defenseless. Klaus trained with Caroline, and Bonnie was more than charged with magic after what she had done earlier today.

He continued to line up his shot, aimed, and missed. Again. He didn't know what was happening, or why none of the balls would sink, and it was frustrating him to no end. Every time he thought he had it lined up perfectly, it veered slightly to the left just before it should have sunk.

Stefan heard Caroline, and looked up to see four vampires looking at Marcel. He took a chance with a return text, despite her warning. _Smart, Care. I count four as backup. Somehow I doubt we will need Klaus._

* * *

The door to the bar opened, and a man in a three piece suit walked in. His short, dark hair was perfectly coiffed, and the midnight blue of his suit was complemented by the stark white of his open collared shirt. He walked over to the table everyone was sitting at, and stood with a hand in his pocket. "Am I late, Caroline?"

Bonnie had a small smile on her face as Caroline squealed and jumped out of her chair to engulf Elijah in a hug, which he grudgingly returned. As Caroline sat back down, Elijah followed her, nodding at Bonnie. "Miss Bennett. You're looking well. Might I be so bold in thinking your new living arrangements are agreeing with you?"

Caroline playfully slapped at his arm, "You're early Elijah! You were supposed to be a surprise!"

"I daresay that I will still be a surprise, whether I arrived early or late. They are not expecting me. May I?" He nodded toward the bottle of champagne Caroline was drinking, and the empty glass beside her. She smiled in permission, and poured him a glass. "Marcellus, I was unaware until recently that you were still alive. To your good fortune." He tilted his glass in a toast toward Marcel, before taking a sip.

Marcel, who had until that point been watching Elijah interact with Bonnie and Caroline with slightly nervous fascination, focused his eyes on Elijah and smiled. "Well, some people are better at survival than others. You should know that better than anyone." Inside, Marcel was sweating. Caroline had been saving that glass for her boyfriend, and now Elijah was drinking from it. This situation was worse than he thought, and escalating into something he wasn't sure how to deal with. He was not willing to hand his city over to an Original; they had left New Orleans, and they had left him.


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm getting to the end of the chapters I've written and edited - again, I'm terrible at editing my own writing, so I apologise for any mistakes - so the updates might be slightly less frequent than the four chapters I've posted in I think the last four? five? days. Regardless, thanks for still being interested in this story.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

Four weeks ago - Caroline and Klaus

Caroline rolled over in bed, tugging the sheets with her as she went. "Mmmm," she sighed, warm and comfortable, hovering in that wonderful place between sleep and wakefulness.

 _At least I was_ , she thought with annoyance. There was a slight draft coming from behind her, causing the exposed skin on her shoulder to break out in goose-bumps. "Klaus," she said without opening her eyes, "I don't know what you're doing, but whatever it is, stop it."

"I merely opened the curtains, love. After all, it is morning. Which you would know, if you opened your eyes." Klaus was excited, wanting Caroline to get up _now_ , and she could hear it in his voice. _He really has mellowed from his former broody self_ , she though. She had promised him she would do it today, and he was impatient to start.

"As much as I love you, the more you try and get me out of bed, the less I want to do it," Caroline said, eyes determinedly closed. They had had a late night, god dammit, he could let her sleep in. Though it had been a good night, she remembered, her lips curving into a smile into the pillow. It wasn't every night the love of your life took you on a guided tour of Paris, including the very closed Louvre, though she didn't want to know how many people he had compelled, nor how much money he had spent making the night memorable for her.

"Come on, sweetheart," he said, "You promised you would, love. You don't even need to get out of bed. Just roll over, and chuck the sheet. I've got everything set up already."

Curiosity got the better of her, and she rolled over and sat up. Sure enough, there was Klaus already standing behind his easel, paint and brushes beside him on a table he had dragged over.

"Oh good, you're up. Sheet, floor, now." Why she had agreed to pose nude for him, she didn't know. One moment of weakness at the top of the Eiffel Tower, and now a nude portrait of her was going to hang above the parlour fireplace in their house in London.

"Klaus, I am not letting you paint me without at least having a shower first."

"You look fantastic, love. Wild hair, mascara smudges under your eyes-" He stopped abruptly as she whooshed past him into the bathroom.

"Klaus, I look terrible! My hair's all tangled and you're right, there is mascara under my eyes. Stupid unhelpful makeup remover. I'm having a shower first, at the very least. And since you woke me up, you can't join me." With that statement, she shut the door in his face.

* * *

Some time later, she emerged in a towel, hair dried and not a single strand out of place, to find Klaus had made her breakfast.

"Full English," he said, referring to the food on the table that had previously held his art supplies.

"I hope you're intending to join me, because there is not a chance that I will be eating that black pudding."

"You're a vampire, love. You survive on blood. I don't understand your aversion to it," Klaus said, as he always did.

She picked up her mug of coffee in one hand, and her mug of blood on the other, sipping from them one at a time, in a move he had come to know well. _Always the coffee first,_ he thought, _followed by the blood, and followed again by the coffee._

"Yes I survive on blood. But I don't cook it and make it into a breakfast sausage, do I?" She settled into the chair and began to eat her bacon, eggs and hash browns. When she had finished her breakfast, she stood and said, "So where do you want me?"

Klaus gestured to the bed. "I was serious earlier, love. You, on the bed, pillows behind you, sheets and blankets on the floor."

* * *

More than an hour later, Caroline was bored. She had been nervous about posing for Klaus, but once he started, there really wasn't anything for her to do except watch him. Which had stopped being interesting about 10 minutes ago, because she could no longer see him behind the canvas. She was fidgeting when her phone rang, and she fished it out from beneath the pillows where she had stashed it in case she wanted to play some games while Klaus painted.

"Luckily, I was done with your outline, love," Klaus murmured to himself as she talked to whomever was on the other end of the phone. If he cared to listen, he would know who it was, but he was rather more interested in mixing his paint to find the perfect colour for Caroline's skin.

"Klaus, that was Bonnie," Caroline said as she got off the bed and walked up to him, peaking behind his easel to see what he had so far. She was amazed how much he had done already. Then she sighed, realising that as soon as he was done, it was going up for all and sundry to see in their home.

"And what did Miss Bennett want? Is she regretting moving in with Kol already?" said Klaus, with a paintbrush in his mouth.

"Kol and Bonnie are on their way to Mystic Falls, back to Bonnie's house to find a grimoire she thinks she left there. Some witches need her help, apparently. And I heard Kol say something in the background about New Orleans."

Klaus perked up when he heard those words. He hadn't been to New Orleans since Mikael had driven them out all those years ago, but he missed the city he had helped found. "Perhaps we should accompany them to New Orleans, love. I can tell you all about how I ruled the city."

"As much as I love your egomania, Klaus, do you really want to spend the short time we have left before the house is finished with Kol and Bonnie?"

"We don't have to spend time with them, love, New Orleans is a big city. But I would like to go back there. It was the last place my family was truly happy, and whole." He thought of Finn with derision, apathy and a hint of sadness. Just a hint, mind you. Finn was a notorious bore who was so far gone with their mother's plans to destroy them that Klaus knew it was for the best that he was dead.

As Klaus spoke, staring blindly at his easel, he missed the calculating look on Caroline's face.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five!**

Present Day - New Orleans

Having seen Elijah arrive and sit down with Bonnie and Caroline, Stefan put his pool cue away. He walked toward the back of the bar, heading in the direction of the bathrooms in case anyone was watching, and out the back door. He stood for a moment, listening intently. When he heard nothing out of the ordinary, Stefan headed away from the bar, stopping after a few blocks.

Pausing to listen again and still hearing nothing, Stefan took out his phone and called Rebekah.

"Stefan? Why are you calling me? You know I'm supposed to meet you there as soon as I'm finished." Rebekah said.

"Yeah, well, Elijah's here already. So there may be a change of plans."

"Bloody Elijah. His need to be prompt better not ruin our plans. If we have done all of this for nothing, I will dagger him myself."

"He seems to be distracting Marcel pretty well," Stefan said. "Caroline didn't yell at him, so I assume in her colour-coded plans for today she accounted for this."

"Well I'm still not happy with him. We haven't seen him in more than two years and he chooses today to play happy families. He's supposed to be a surprise for Nik and Kol; they can't turn up at the bar now. As much as I hate to sound like a bad movie plot, we'll have to move on to Plan B. I'll handle everything from my end."

"No need to do it alone. Where are you? I'll come to you and we can tell Klaus and Kol the change of plans."

* * *

Back at the bar, Elijah, Caroline and Bonnie had settled into comfortable conversation. Marcel sat and watched them, looking for cracks, looking for anything he could use to turn this situation in his favour.

"Miss Bennett, how has your visit to New Orleans been so far?" Elijah asked Bonnie.

"Elijah, we've known each other for years. I think you can call me Bonnie," she responded with exasperation.

"Very well," Elijah acquiesced, "Bonnie, how have you enjoyed your weeks in New Orleans?"

"I've enjoyed it a lot, actually. I've done a couple of historical tours, visited a graveyard or two, some churches, you know, tourist stuff. Caroline even dragged me to see some historic houses, and some of them were so steeped in magic I felt invigorated. To be honest, I've felt it in the oddest places in this city, and I find the feeling really comforting. I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up living here."

"And Caroline? Have you enjoyed yourself as well?"

"Oh definitely. While Bonnie was off doing secret stuff in graveyards and churches, I was learning my way around the city."

* * *

As Caroline told Elijah of the places she had been, Marcel began to see a pattern. Those were all neighbourhoods and districts of the city where he had power-bases. He had day-walkers running those neighbourhoods and reporting to him, but none of them had said anything about an unknown vampire hanging around. After a hundred years of building up his rule of the city, he had grown accustomed to relative safety, and didn't like this feeling of being outplayed in a game he didn't know was a part of.

The witch's comments about the graveyard and church didn't go unnoticed either. She had visited Davina's former coven and he could only hope had decided not to help them. He cared for Davina and he would not allow her to be killed. Marcel didn't relish going to war, but for Davina and his city he would.

"And you, Marcel?" Asked Elijah.

Marcel focused on the Original and responded to the question he had barely heard over the thoughts swirling in his head. "Me and my guys have been busy lately. You know, quashing rebellions, keeping the witches in line. We had to enforce city law recently, so everything is quieting down again. But such is the life of the King." He smiled as he said it, but he could feel it cracking.

"Can I get you anything else? Marcel, guys?" The blonde waitress was back, looking around the group to take drink orders. Her eyes lingered on Marcel's and she saw in them something she had never seen before. Fear.

 _She's worried about Marcel,_ Caroline thought. She made a mental note to remember to take care of the waitress later, test her for vervain and either compel her or lock her up until it had left her system. Camille, she read on the name tag pinned to her chest. She knew it from her file, but Caroline didn't like outliers to her plans. It made her feel vulnerable and she didn't appreciate that feeling. Life with Klaus had given her a comfortable bubble, where she never felt insecure. It wasn't nice to feel that familiar twinge again. All of this was her plan and it needed to work.

"Where did your friend get to? He left his scotch." Marcel looked at Camille, unaware that Caroline and Bonnie hadn't come to the bar alone, and scanned the bar for another vampire.

"Oh he's around here somewhere," Caroline replied vaguely. "Just over there, in fact." She pointed toward the door where a couple were entering; the man had light brown hair and heavy eyebrows. Marcel could see the woman's profile and it was immediately familiar to him. _Rebekah._ Marcel did not think this night could get worse for him, but it appeared he was wrong.

* * *

Rebekah and Stefan strolled hand in hand over to the table, where Rebekah raised an eyebrow at the four vampires sitting at the table with Caroline, Bonnie, Elijah and Marcel.

"Go away," she said to them. She recognised them from Caroline's file, and couldn't help but feel slight admiration for her. Rebekah had to admit, Caroline had put a lot of effort into this reunion. Not everyone would organise a semi-hostile takeover of a city for their boyfriend.

Stefan held a chair out for Rebekah and she gracefully sat. Elijah slid Stefan's bottle of scotch to her, and Stefan left to get clean glasses, taking note of where Marcel's minions had scattered to.

"Elijah. Nice to see you still look the same. I wasn't sure you would, considering how long it has been since you have graced us with your presence. I see Caroline has the power to get you to agree to almost anything." To Bonnie she said, "I like your necklace. New?" Bonnie smiled.

She looked at Marcel, and said, "Shame. I would have liked to never see _you_ again at all."


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello new Followers and Favouriters, and to those who have been following since Chapter 1 came out the other day. Thanks to those who reviewed, I really enjoyed reading them. Here is Chapter 6; there are only a few to go now, so if I'm feeling super up to it, I may finish it this weekend.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

Four weeks ago - Stefan and Rebekah

Stefan couldn't remember the last time he had been this relaxed. The sun was making him drowsy and the crashing of the waves was the perfect white noise for an afternoon nap.

He was just hovering on the precipice, about to sink into sleep when Bekah's phone started to ring. It was playing the old Nokia ringtone that Caroline had programmed into it, after saying Rebekah had missed a lot being daggered for so long, and needed to catch up.

"Caroline this ring tone is the bloody worst," Rebekah said into the phone.

"Oh I know. I just thought that since the rest of us had to put up with it, you should too. Besides, it's not the _worst_ worst. When I call Kol, MC Hammer plays 'Can't Touch This'. But that's mostly because Klaus said he would cut off Kol's hands if he did ever touch me."

"As fascinating as this all is, Caroline, did you interrupt our vacation for a reason?"

"I did. I'll get to the point, I promise. You know how Klaus's birthday is coming up soon? And how you've all been together a long time, and how I think Klaus misses Elijah even though he never brings him up?"

"Yes..."

"Well I was thinking I could try and get Elijah to come to a surprise party-slash-family reunion in New Orleans. In four weeks."

"While I highly commend your attempt to get Elijah and Nik to talk to each other again, I don't think it will work. And why New Orleans? As far as I know, Nik's never been back since Mikael forced us to flee. I don't even think he's mentioned it since."

"Yeah, because he was hurt and he misses it!"

"I think you give my brother too much credit, Caroline."

"See, I don't think anyone else gives him enough credit. He's really matured emotionally in the last few years."

Rebekah knew that was true, knew that Caroline was slowly changing Nik back into the person he had been once. _Maybe in another 900 years, he will be the brother I once knew,_ she thought, _instead of the one that I love, but can no longer recognise as the same person I was human with._

"Well I wont stop you trying. Let us know when you need us to make an appearance. Until then, I am going to enjoy the sun and the swimming."

Stefan grabbed the phone from Rebekah before she could hang up, long having given up on his nap, but looking forward to teasing Caroline.

"So how is Klaus?" He said, "I hear he's started painting a new portrait."

Caroline sputtered, "Wh- How- Who told you?!" She demanded.

"Klaus and I do talk you know," Stefan replied with a smile on his face.

"Well, guess what? You are officially banned from ever seeing it. You know what? I'm officially putting a blanket ban on visits from Salvatores. No Salvatores in London, ever. Or Kol. Remind me to tell him he's banned too."

"So you're banning all of your friends and family from ever visiting you?" Stefan questioned.

"Don't be ridiculous. Bonnie and Rebekah can visit me whenever they want. After that night in Vegas it's not like they haven't accidentally seen all of it anyway."

"What about Elijah?"

"Well, if this thing I'm planning doesn't work, I think that question is moot. If it does work, well, Elijah appreciates art. I'm sure it will be fine if he visits."

"You know you cant ban me from visiting. Like I said before, Klaus and I talk. We're friends again. If he invites me, you can't stop me from coming."

"Maybe I'll just-" Caroline is cut off by Rebekah, demanding Stefan's attention.

"I've got to go, Care. But I'll look into flights home, let me know if you need us."

* * *

The day after she had talked to Stefan and Rebekah, Caroline and Klaus arrived in Mystic Falls. They pulled up outside the Mikaelson mansion, and Caroline couldn't help but think how that despite how much everyone and everything she knew had changed, she could always count on Klaus to hire people to keep his houses looking exactly the same: pristine. It looked the same today as it did the last time she had seen it, and it had been more than a couple of years. They entered through the front door, and the house had the smell of fresh furniture polish. Caroline breathed it in, happy to be back, pushing away the memories of the last time she had been there. _Klaus and Elijah need to get over it,_ she thought.

"So what do we do now, love?" Klaus enquired, having put their bags down in their bedroom.

"Now, you go finish that lovely portrait of me, that I am super looking forward to seeing. I promised Bonnie I would go to her house and help her go through her stuff to find that grimoire."

Klaus frowned ever so slightly, and that was all the warning she got. Less than a second later he pounced, picking her up and tossing her on the bed. "But I thought we could christen the house."

Caroline was confused. They had had sex here hundreds of times, what was there to christen? "Not that I'm not totally loving this idea, but we christened the house years ago."

"But we haven't on this visit, love. Besides," he said, crouching over her, "If I'm to finish the portrait, I need a refresher on what you look like without clothes." When his dimples came out as he grinned at her, Caroline was a goner.

* * *

Some time later, having left Klaus in a stupor and feeling quite proud of herself, Caroline knocked once on Bonnie's front door before letting herself in.

"Hey, Bonnie," Caroline called out loudly. She could hear Bonnie in her room, but didn't want to freak Bonnie out if she hadn't heard her arrive.

"Hey, Care. I'm in my room," Bonnie replied. "Thanks for coming to help me look, but to be honest I found the grimoire about an hour ago. I tried to call, but you didn't pick up."

"Oh, yeah, Klaus and I were unpacking," Caroline said guilelessly. "I think I left my phone in the car."

"Uh huh," Bonnie's face had a skeptical smile as she replied. "That's why your hair looks all wild? Because you were searching the car for your phone?"

"Oh, shut up. Anyway, as much as I was coming here to help you find the grimoire, I also came so I could call Elijah without Klaus knowing. Where's Kol?"

"Out picking up dinner. Or, as I call it, picking up a skank in a bar. But he's bringing me back onion rings, so I'm fine with it."

"Still wont drink from blood bags, then?"

"He's trying. But really, as long as he doesn't kill them or have sex with them, I'm getting better at dealing with it. Why are you calling Elijah? Is Klaus going to apologise for what he did?"

"Not as such," Caroline replied slowly. "I'm more trying to force the issue by putting Klaus and Elijah together in the same room. I mean, how are they going to get over it if they wont even talk to each other? So what I'm thinking is organising a birthday party-slash-family reunion in New Orleans in exactly three weeks and six days."

"That's pretty specific, Caroline."

"Well so are birth dates. And I've even got Bekah's tentative approval, about forcing the issue with Klaus and Elijah."

"What are we forcing with Nik and Elijah?" Kol walked into the room with a plastic bag that was emitting the most amazing smell of fried goodness.

"Tissues. I think the next time they see each other they'll cry." That was not Caroline's best lie. Which she could see reflected in Bonnie's expression, who didn't know whether to commend Caroline's ridiculously quick thinking, or be sad for her, about the terrible and unbelievable lie.

"Well Nik has always been the emotional one in the family, so my bet's on him." Kol didn't seem too concerned that Caroline had lied. He walked over to Bonnie's side and she attacked him for the bag he was carrying. He quickly raised it over his head and demanded a kiss in payment, which Bonnie was happy to give him.

When Bonnie was happily eating the onion rings Kol had brought about ten seconds later, she told him, "You should go see Klaus. He's painting a portrait I think you'll be interested in." Caroline looked at her. "Stefan," she said in way of explanation.

* * *

After Kol had left, Caroline quickly got out her phone.

"Calling Elijah?"

"No. I'm calling Klaus to get him to hide the painting. I don't want Kol to see it ever. Damn, I forgot to ban him from London."

After she had been assured by Klaus, that yes, he would put it away, Caroline called Elijah.

Ever polite, Elijah and Caroline's conversation was also successful, even if it had revolved around the little white lie that Klaus would apologise. But that didn't count, because Caroline had her fingers crossed as she told him that Klaus was very sorry, and would totally apologise, and missed him, and wanted him to be there for his birthday, yes, even if he didn't know about the surprise party.

Bonnie sat there listening, snorting as she saw Caroline's crossed fingers and guilty expression. After she hung up, Caroline said to Bonnie, "Don't tell Kol that Elijah's coming. It can be a surprise for him too. He should make up with Elijah for taking Klaus's side. In the world's dumbest fight. Ever." Changing the subject, Caroline said, "So tell me about the witches that need your help."

Bonnie told Caroline everything that had happened with Jayne-Anne, and the request she had made regarding Marcel.

"I think the best thing to do is some reconnaissance work," said Caroline. "One of us goes to New Orleans and observes for a while, and writes copious notes, of course, so that I can plan something amazing for you to do to this Marcel. Or to the witches, in case they're terrible and lying, and trying to use you to get rid of the competition."

"I agree. But which one of us is going to go?"

They looked at each other and said in unison, "Not Damon."

"I know he's all broody and going through stuff," Caroline began.

"But," continued Bonnie, "He's also terrible at going under the radar, and always manages to piss at least one person off anywhere he goes."

"Exactly."

"Well whoever goes, I'm going to make some charms for them to appear human. That way, the vampires and witches shouldn't look twice at them. That's why I needed the grimoire, actually."

"I think you and I should go, Bonnie. When was the last time we did something together? Oooh, Stefan should come too. We used to have so much fun together. This is an amazing idea. I'm going to text Stefan now." With that, she took out her phone.


	7. Chapter 7

**This is a short one, I'm afraid. In spite of what I said at the start of the last chapter, I obviously didn't finish the whole story over the weekend. I had to do housework and that made me both tired and unmotivated. However, we are nearing the end. I find it difficult to write overly long chapters, so if I keep writing fanfics after this one, they will probably all be reasonably short.**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

Present Day

Marcel could think of several appropriate responses to Rebekah's comment. Appropriate to his swirling emotions, and all starting with an F, but nothing he could say aloud. He resorted to his default setting, i.e. charming, smiling and affable.

"It's good to see you, Rebekah. How have you been?"

"I've been amazing, Marcel. Best hundred years of my life so far. It's a shame you couldn't join us for them." Rebekah responded with scorn.

"Well I would hope you've enjoyed at least a few of those years," Stefan said, leaning in to bump his shoulder into hers.

"I have, Stefan. You know that." She looked at him, smiling.

Marcel looked between them and asked, "How long have you two been together?"

"Oh, about 90 years, off and on," said Stefan.

"Best off and on years of my life," said Rebekah. "Despite the Elena thing."

At that, Stefan gave her an exasperated look.

It was not what Marcel wanted to hear. He had hoped Rebekah and Stefan were a new thing, something she had cooked up to rub in his face when she decided to visit New Orleans.

"So how is it going, living with the world's worst brother, Bonnie?" Rebekah addressed her question toward the witch, and Marcel could feel the walls closing in. It seemed the Mikaelsons had actually let other people into their lives, and he didn't like that. That meant that the two Originals at his table, and in his city were probably not the only ones.

By Rebekah's question, Marcel could only assume that Bonnie was living with Klaus. Elijah was a gentleman; no one would dare call him Rebekah's worst brother, and he was with Caroline anyway. Kol was too wild, killing anything that moved and would never settle down. A witch would never be with a vampire like that, who had no respect for human life. And the other brother, Finn, had been in his coffin for hundreds of years when the Originals had last been in New Orleans; there was no reason to suspect anything had changed there. Klaus, however, was a wildcard. He had shown Marcel humanity when he was a child, though those moments had grown far and few between once he had been turned. There was every reason to believe that maybe he could let the witch in.

"Excuse me," he said, and walked over to the bar, ostensibly to talk to his guys.

* * *

Bonnie responded to Rebekah's question with a sigh. "It is going mostly fine. But I did learn the other week that our maid is dead. So I have to deal with that now."

"How did that happen?" Asked Stefan.

"Apparently he had a party about a week before I moved in, invited some local vampires to exert his power and authority. You know how they are," she said in an aside to Caroline and Stefan. "Anyway, long story short, he thought he could hide it from me. But he's also really lazy and when he didn't clean up the disgusting mess of a kitchen I knew something was up. So he fessed up and then told me we could spend couple time together hiring a new one."

"Oh," said Rebekah with a wistful expression, "I used to love doing that. Nik, Kol and Elijah would leave the hiring of the staff up to me whenever we moved. We would all take turns compelling them of course, but oh, I loved it," she repeated.

Bonnie couldn't believe what she was hearing. Kol had told her the same thing, and she had been really skeptical. But apparently it was true. "Doesn't help clean the kitchen though," she muttered quietly to herself.

"Would you care for the last glass, Caroline?" Elijah asked, holding up the near empty bottle of champagne.

"No, you have it. You turned up just in time to save me from getting drunk," Caroline replied. "You really are the most reliable Mikaelson, you know, Elijah."

"Don't you have to say that, Caroline?" Marcel returned to the table with swagger. "Since you guys are together, I mean."

Caroline's head went back and a confused frown was on her face. "What? Why would you think we're together?"

The rest of the table looked as equally confused as Caroline. And then Bonnie started laughing.

"Could you imagine what he'd do if Elijah and Caroline got together? Which one would he kill first, do you think? And quick or slow?

"Neither!" Rebekah said with vehemence. "He'd torture at least Elijah for a couple of years. Maybe Caroline too. But he would never kill her. Or him, I guess."

"Yeah we've been working on the premise that you can kill anyone you want, but you can never bring them back," said Caroline.

"Weeelllllll..." Bonnie drew out the word.

"No. You don't bring that up, because that will set back over a year of progress. And I'm all about making positive choices. Anyway, I would never allow Elijah, or anyone else to get hurt because of me."

The table sat in silence. Marcel was trying to decide whether Caroline was with Kol or Finn, and everyone else was thinking of Caroline's plan, and how many people they had already hurt.


	8. Chapter 8

**This chapter just flowed, so despite posting one already today, here is another chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

Two weeks ago - Bonnie, Caroline and Stefan

They had been in New Orleans for a week, and they had been busy. Their original plan, to explore the city, witches, and vampires together had lasted all of a day. Caroline had quickly realised the scale of the supernatural in the city, and that her timeline leading up to Klaus's birthday would be thrown off if they all stuck together. They had a finite time to learn everything they could, and what they needed to learn was much.

Caroline and Bonnie were currently in their hotel room just outside the French Quarter. It was nothing fancy because Caroline was paying for it herself. She couldn't chance using any of the cards Klaus had put in her wallet when she wasn't looking; the Mikaelson name couldn't be used or mentioned in the city until everything had come together, and, Caroline hoped, gone off without a hitch.

Both Caroline and Bonnie were wearing their spelled toe rings that prevented anyone supernatural from sensing what they were. They agreed toe rings were awful, and a bad time in fashion history, but they were also the most inconspicuous pieces of jewellery they could wear as they were hidden in their shoes. Stefan had flat out refused to wear one, despite Caroline trying her hardest to convince him. Bonnie had just laughed, and brought out the watch she had bought and spelled. It was cheap and garish, and certainly not what he would normally wear, but as Caroline had said, they were incognito.

Despite not knowing anyone in the city, nor anyone knowing them, all three decided to take advantage of the subterfuge of the situation and change their clothes and personalities. Bonnie was the only one with a chance of being recognised by Jayne-Anne's coven, but the threat from them was minimal; they had asked her to come, and if they saw her she could easily say she was there to help. With that in mind, Bonnie had cut her long hair into a short bob, and dyed it a caramel brown that Caroline thought looked amazing. She was channeling a stereotypical sorority girl, and Caroline thought about telling her to look into making acting a career.

Stefan had taken inspiration from his cheap watch and dressed like a faux-hippie, wearing flip-flops, khakis and a 'Save the Whales' t-shirt he had taken from Damon, of all people. Despite a lot of ribbing from everyone, Damon wouldn't tell them where he had gotten it from, nor why he had it. Stefan had topped off his new persona by growing a soul-patch. Neither Bonnie nor Caroline had quite managed to look him in the face since the first time they had seen it.

Caroline, not wanting to take a chance that her naturally blonde hair wouldn't go back to the same colour if she dyed it, opted to use coloured hair chalk instead. She thought the blue ombre was very Kylie Jenner, but loved it. She was pretending to be a rich, snobby girl and basically took her inspiration from how Rebekah had been when they first met her. She had also raided Rebekah's wardrobe at the Mikaelson mansion in Mystic Falls before they had left.

They had decided never to speak of what they were doing, relying on texting each other instead. Bonnie couldn't do any magic, so she couldn't use sage to spell the room and make it un-eavesdrop-able. They erased their messages every hour, whether they had sent any of consequence or not. The only texts they left were the ones to Klaus, Kol and Rebekah which said nothing but 'Good morning' or 'How has your day been'. If they were found out and their phones checked, having no messages was more suspicious than having some from Kevin, Kyle and Roberta - the names they had laughingly chosen for the Mikaelsons. Elijah was Ethan, but only Caroline's phone had messages from him.

* * *

Both the girls were receiving texts from Stefan, who had been tasked with looking into the werewolves in the bayou. They hadn't originally known about the wolves, but upon investigation had found out what had been done to them. Stefan had been sent to investigate out in the bayou only yesterday, and was now checking in.

Bonnie: _The situation with the witches is complicated. Both Davina and the witches think what they are doing to the other is right; her coven wants to kill her to affirm their bond with their ancestors, and are trying to find her. She in turn is allowing them to be killed when they do magic._

Stefan: _I've found a lot of wolves out here in the bayou. I think they're werewolves but can't be certain. I think we will need Kevin for that. If you're planning on undoing their curse, and there are as many as I think there are, its going to take a lot of magic._

Caroline: _The amount of vampires I've seen is crazy. They're everywhere and they don't try to hide. They have centres all over the city and they show an insane amount of loyalty to Marcel. I'm going to need to be extremely careful when I think of a way to take them out. I think I'm going to need Kevin's help too, so maybe this wont be as easy as telling him to come here and handing him the city._

Bonnie: _I finally found Davina today. She's living in a church. So far Marcel has been her only visitor, but I will keep watch. I need to talk to her. I'm thinking about leaving the city so that I can do some magic. Now that I know where she is, a communication spell will be easy enough, provided she has a mirror in her room._

Caroline: _Of course she will have a mirror. She's 16. Stefan, when you've figured out the extent of the wolves' territory, come back. Bonnie wont leave until you get back, and we need to stick together while she's gone._

Stefan: _I've got most of the territory figured out, should be done by tomorrow._

Bonnie: _Make sure you get it exact. When I remove the curse it will be geographical. If there are any werewolves not in the exact area I perform the spell on, they wont be free of the curse. Caroline, continue to play bitchy tourist and document all the vampires. We're going to need to take care of them all if this is going to work._

Stefan: _Be careful, both of you. Kyle and Kevin will murder me if anything happens to you._

Caroline: _Do you think either of us want to face Roberta? You be careful, too. Check in in the morning._


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Present Day - Earlier

Bonnie approached the graveyard, and couldn't help but think of the differences between this one and the one she had grown up with in Mystic Falls. This one was both more and less eerie than the one back home. More eerie because it was filled with the spirits of dead witches, and less eerie because it wasn't a flat field interrupted by headstones. There were crypts here, and everything was raised above the ground. But that was necessary here in New Orleans, as the ground couldn't hold the bodies.

In front of her, in a small area free of tombs, stood a gathering of witches. It was Jayne-Anne Deveraux's coven and they were looking toward her with gratitude. It was short lived.

"Bonnie Bennett?" Asked one of the witches.

Bonnie raised her eyebrows in confirmation of her identity.

"My name is Sophie. My sister Jayne-Anne was the one who contacted you, and who gave up her life so that you would come and help us."

"I know who you are. I know who you all are."

"We're very grateful you're here. The vampires-" she was cut off.

"Are not the only problem with this city," finished Bonnie. "I've been in New Orleans for a while, observing not only them, but you. Watching as you tried to track down Davina Claire so you could kill her and complete the Harvest. Watching as she gave you away to Marcel and members of your coven were killed. If anything, the vampires are merely in the middle of a coven-wide squabble. Profiting from being in the middle, sure, but in the middle all the same."

"I understand how this must look, and even I, who once gave up on my magic, believe the Harvest is the best thing for this coven. It will bring back the girls that were already sacrificed, including my niece, Monique."

"When was the last time the Harvest ritual was performed?" Asked Bonnie.

"More than a century," said Sophie. "But all the elders believed it would work; their grandparents experienced it as children and told them of the power increase they received from the sacrifice."

"You have your ancestors, and I have mine," Bonnie replied. "And though yours are forced to remain here in New Orleans, mine are free to wander the Other Side. And they do. Some have even wandered to New Orleans in the past, and lay witness to rituals your coven, and others of this city, perform."

"Our ancestors are not on the Other Side."

"No, they aren't. But magic draws magic, and when energy is expended, it can be felt. Do you know what really happens when your coven completes the Harvest? Your magic increases due to the purity of the sacrifice, and the fact that four new witches have joined with your ancestors. The only reason you feel like you have more magic is because there are now four more people to draw power from; four people who have never really used their magic and so have a lot of it."

Bonnie could see the faces behind Sophie becoming a lot less gratuitous, and a lot more threatening.

"I don't believe you," said Sophie. "Jayne-Anne would never sacrifice her daughter to get more power."

"She might, if it would help her, and by extension your coven, defeat the vampires like you've been trying to do for hundreds of years. I trust my ancestors a hell of a lot more than I trust yours, and I don't like being used as a pawn in a war I had no interest in fighting. But be sure, I'm interested now." With that, she began chanting.

As the witches began to advance on her, their hands raised and their mouths moving with their own spells, Davina stepped from the shadows of a crypt. She was chanting with Bonnie, keeping the witches at bay as Bonnie was siphoning off the magic of the French Quarter Coven and their ancestors. After all, there was a reason Bonnie had chosen the cemetery as the meeting place; the connection to their ancestors was strongest here.

The witches began to weaken, and could feel their magic being drained from them. It shone in Bonnie like a beacon only they could see, and Bonnie was panting from the effort. Bonnie and Davina turned and walked away from the coven of former witches, who no longer knew what they were supposed to do.

When they had gained enough distance from the cemetery, Bonnie and Davina stopped walking. Bonnie forced the magic she had taken into a small necklace shaped like the crescent moon and placed the necklace around her neck.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Bonnie asked Davina.

"Yes," she replied. "I need to learn to live without it."

"Well you know how to find me, if you ever want to learn my kind of magic. Where will you go now?"

"Back to the church, I guess. Marcel will look after me."

Bonnie was skeptical, knowing what was currently happening to his regime, but knew she would be around if Davina ever needed her.

* * *

Caroline and Klaus had been busy. After Stefan had returned from the bayou, and Caroline had given in and called Klaus, they had headed out to scout the wolves. Stefan had been fairly accurate with his map of their territory, but Klaus could pick up on markers known only to werewolves. They had spent the better part of a week making the changes to the map, and attempting to capture a wolf, as they needed the blood of a Crescent for Bonnie to perform the spell.

They met Bonnie inside the hotel she and Stefan had still been using while Caroline was with Klaus, and headed off to the bayou.

"How was it?" Asked Caroline.

"Weirdly satisfying. I don't like going against witches, especially when vampires gain so much, but I like being manipulated less."

"And Davina?"

"Magic-less like the rest of her coven, and she turned down my offer. But I'll keep an eye on her."

"Now that we are out of the city limits, is it permissible to remove this horrible thing?"

"Yes, Klaus, you can take off your 'LiveStrong' bracelet. You only had to wear it in the city limits, which was all of half a day spread across the last week, so stop complaining. I've been wearing this toe ring for nearly four weeks."

Bonnie had really grown into her sense of humour around Kol. She had picked the funnest and most ridiculous things for Klaus, Kol and Rebekah to use as anti-supernatural talismans. Kol couldn't be trusted not to take his off and try to intimidate the local vampires, so Bonnie had spelled a temporary unicorn tattoo that she had personally applied to Kol's ass. His reasoning for that was that no one but her would see it there, and she didn't mind, because she thought Kol had a fine ass.

Rebekah was disgusted she was expected to dress like Stefan, and that her's was one of a pair of peace-sign earrings decorated with tiny yellow smiling faces. However, she knew of the three Originals, Marcel was more likely to notice her, and she only had to wear them for a day.

"I never have to wear this again, correct?" Klaus said.

"Yep. One and done," replied Caroline.

"Good." He tore it off his wrist and it disintegrated into about five pieces. Caroline was pretty sure it was the first time Klaus had ever worn yellow, despite how nicely she thought it would go with his hair, and made a note to buy him a yellow shirt. If he didn't like it, Caroline could always wear it to sleep in.

Bonnie had already removed her toe ring when she had met with the witches, but Caroline kept hers, as wolves did not like vampires, and they were headed straight for wolf territory. When they arrived, Bonnie asked again, "You're sure this is correct?"

She gestured to the map with the highlighted lines around it.

"Of course," said Caroline. "I am nothing if not pedantic."

Bonnie uncorked the vial of wolf blood and tipped it on the map, which rested on the hood of the car. She gripped the crescent shaped necklace she was wearing and thought of the poetry of it all. She hadn't picked the necklace because of the wolves, but liked how it had turned out. Bonnie chanted in a language unintelligible to Caroline, still gripping the necklace as she harnessed its power to perform the spell. _Those French Quarter ancestors were holding out on their coven,_ she thought, _because they were brimming with untapped magic._ She smiled, because that magic was hers now, and she could do a lot more with it than that coven ever would have.

"Did it work?" Caroline asked when Bonnie stopped chanting.

"There's no reason it shouldn't. They will remain as wolves on the full moon, and then resume their normal cycle. I'm sure there will be a lot of confused wolves come the full moon when they don't transition back into human form. But it should be cleared up come sunrise when they do transform, and stay that way."

"Right. Back to the city, and back to work Klaus. There's a file back at the hotel, and Kol and Bekah have been checking in with Stefan as they go, crossing vampires off."

When they got back to the hotel, Stefan handed over the file with pictures and names of vampires to Klaus. "The ones with the red on them have been done already, but keep checking with Bekah and Kol."

Stefan, Caroline and Bonnie waited as Klaus left, and got ready for a night out.

* * *

Kol and Rebekah had spent most of the day and into the evening rounding up and accosting Marcel's vampires. Any that showed signs of vervain were killed and thrown in the back of the van Kol had compelled for the day. Those that didn't were compelled to reveal their level of loyalty to Marcel. He had done a good job, and it took a lot of compulsion to remove the loyalty and turn them to the side of the Originals. It wasn't a permanent solution, but it would do for now. _And Marcel deserves it, for abandoning them all those years ago when Mikael came,_ Rebekah thought.

Despite, or perhaps because of, the killing, the day had been a success. Both Rebekah and Kol had gotten through a lot of their lists, but couldn't wait for Klaus to join them and take on some of the load.

Klaus emerged from the dark, pulling a piece of paper from his back pocket. "Who's left?" He asked.

"Not many," replied Kol. "We should be able to finish in time for Caroline's grand surprise."

"Well I'm dying for a drink, so you two carry on. I'll catch up." Rebekah folded up her own list, updated with the latest vampire they had had to kill. "Keep me updated." She walked away from them, cursing the horrible shoes she was wearing and hoping for a chance to get changed before she saw Marcel again. She couldn't gloat wearing shoes made of rubber and a maxi skirt with a brown floral pattern.

When she had fed enough to satisfy the effort a day of compulsion had required, her phone rang, and it was Stefan. She was mad a Elijah, but not all that surprised he was early, and was glad that Stefan was coming to meet her. Kol and Klaus could finish the last of the vampires, as there were only four left on the list. Caroline had been thorough and even included places they often frequented, so it wouldn't be hard for her brothers to track them down.

Rebekah often wondered whether any of them would still be alive if anyone in Mystic Falls had allowed Caroline to be anything more than a distraction for Klaus. This wasn't the first time Caroline's plans had been devious and perfectly executed, but it was the first time she had ever done anything of this scale. She smiled. Despite Rebekah's occasional attitude, she did actually like Caroline.

* * *

 **End of Chapter 9 and nearly the end of the whole story. I took a bit of artistic licence with the whole Harvest thing, but meh, it's fanfic so I'm allowed.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Present day**

Caroline thought the day was going amazingly well, considering. Everything had gone reasonably to plan, including Elijah turning up so early. Everyone else thought that was a mistake, and had moved to implement Plan B, but in reality every detail had been planned perfectly. Plan B was actually a continuation of Plan A, and if Elijah had been waylaid, then the real Plan B would have been to continue Plan A. It all made sense in her head. Not that anyone but her and Elijah knew of the Plan A-B confusion. After all, it was Klaus's birthday but that didn't mean she couldn't surprise everybody else.

As if on schedule, her phone vibrated in her pocket. She made sure the table was in conversation before surreptitiously checking the message. It was from Klaus telling her that he and Kol were in position, and were waiting for her signal. She quickly typed out a message.

Caroline: _On it. Starting phase six now. Be prepared any time._

When she had hit send and hidden her phone back in her pocket, she raised her eyebrows at Rebekah. She knew the pre-arranged signal was received when Rebekah downed the last of her drink, then reached for Stefan's and downed his.

"As lovely as this has been, Marcel, we're off."

Marcel said, "How long are you in town for? I'd love to show you what I've done with the city, and with your old house." He was still trying to gauge why they were in New Orleans.

"Oh we aren't sure how long we'll be staying, right Stefan? It all rather depends on Caroline."

Stefan hummed his agreement, and stood to help her from her seat.

They left as Marcel asked Caroline what they meant.

She waved off his question, "I'm organising a historical tour, taking everyone to places the Mikaelsons called home at some time or other. This was the first stop. Rebekah's just waiting for an updated itinerary."

"I'm going to follow Stefan and Bekah's example and go back to the hotel. It's been a long day, and I'm tired." Bonnie stood, smiled at the table, and left.

Both Caroline and Elijah noticed two of Marcel's vampires leave when Stefan and Rebekah, and then Bonnie, left. Neither were concerned though. Bonnie and Bekah had their instructions.

"Well we're going to move to the bar. Are you going to join us, Marcel?" Asked Elijah.

"Nah, I've gotta head home," Marcel replied. "Busy day tomorrow. But it was good to see you, Elijah, and nice to meet you, Caroline. I hope to see you both again."

He smiled that smile Caroline used to see on her own face, and headed out. Neither of his two minions followed him, so Caroline assumed they were there to follow her and Elijah whenever they left.

She and Elijah moved to sit at the bar, and Elijah asked her, "How long do you think we give him?"

"Oh I want to be there when it all goes down, so I say no more than five minutes. It wont take us too long to get rid of our tail."

They waited the five minutes mandated by Caroline before she gathered her purse and jacket and they headed out the door together. They quickly whooshed into a nearby alley to wait for the vampires that followed them, and were amused as they listened to their conversation.

"Which way do you think they went?"

"How did we lose them already?"

"Marcel is going to kill us."

The last was said as they walked past the entrance to the alley. "Gentlemen, I do not think you need worry Marcel will kill you," said Elijah. He then quickly reached out with both hands, and when they returned to his sides, each held a heart of the men in front of him. Elijah dropped them, and sighed with annoyance as he reached into his pocket for a handkerchief. Though he always tried his hardest, he had still managed to get some blood on the cuffs of his shirt.

* * *

Marcel walked out of the bar, smile on his face and his head held high. It was all for show however, because inside he was shitting himself. He had to regroup, make a plan for while the Mikaelsons were in New Orleans, make sure they didn't do anything to interrupt what he had in place, or do anything to disrupt his rule of the city.

He was expecting to hear from the guys he had had tail Rebekah, Stefan and Bonnie, letting him know where they were staying. As yet, he had heard nothing, and reached into his pocket for his phone. Because his head was down as he started texting, he mistook the two people sitting around his indoor courtyard as some of his vampires. It was only when one spoke in that voice that was both familiar and, after the evening he had had, terrifying, that he realised his mistake.

* * *

"You know, Marcel, when I left New Orleans, I believed I was leaving your corpse behind. I mourned you, and yet I come back to find you've taken over my home. I must say, I love what you've done with the place." Klaus's voice was menacing, and he had a hard look in his eyes.

"Really, Nik? I'm not a fan, myself." Kol commented as he stood straight, from his lean against a pillar.

"That's alright, Kol. We can always redecorate." Bonnie walked through the door into the courtyard, and right to Kol. She reached her arms up behind his neck and kissed him. "I missed you," she said. "Three weeks is a long time."

"Too long," he agreed. As she removed her hands, he moved his arm behind her and held her to his side.

All Marcel could think was that he had been so wrong. It turned out a witch could love Kol, despite his history and habit of killing anything that moved, and it appeared Kol could also love someone other than himself. Marcel was concerned for the guy he had sent to follow her, and asked Bonnie, "What did you do to Thierry?"

"I assume that's the vampire minion you sent after me?" She replied. "Oh, he's fine. If your definition of fine is currently missing a heart. You really shouldn't have gotten Camille to give them vervain at the bar. He might be alive if you hadn't." Bonnie gave him a sympathetic grin, and Marcel realised that he had been outmaneuvered.

"Yes, the one you sent after Stefan and I may have also lived, without the vervain." Rebekah and Stefan made their presence known with the statement from Rebekah. "Kol, Nik, if you would like to update your lists? Because mine is complete now."

"As wonderful as all of this is," interrupted Klaus in a hard and irritated tone, "may I get back to explaining to Marcel the reason we are all here? Good." He took their silence as permission. "I once considered you my son, Marcellus, and here I find you alive. In the wake of Mikael's visit, I assumed you were dead, or you would have sought us out. Instead, you took it upon yourself to help yourself to my city and have everyone call you King."

"Well if you had stayed to fight Mikael, and not run away scared, it might still be your city. But you were always too frightened of your father. The big, bad Klaus Mikaelson brought to terror by the mention of his father's name."

Klaus's nostrils flared and his jaw hardened. He opened his mouth when he heard, "It looks like I got here just in time," from Caroline as she entered the courtyard. "If I can trust anything about you, Klaus, its your ability to grandstand yourself off topic." She said this with amused affection as she approached him. Much as Bonnie had greeted Kol, Caroline greeted Klaus. "Was your evening as good as our afternoon?"

Klaus knew she was enquiring about his success with the vampires under Marcel's thumb, but it was Kol that answered.

"Yes, it was. All but four, but it appears Bekah and Bonnie managed to get those ones. Now will you bloody stop it? Your happiness is sickening." Caroline had yet to let go of Klaus.

 _And it just keeps getting better,_ thought Marcel. _Kol's aligned himself with a witch powerful enough to find Davina, and Klaus with the cunning blonde I think wants to take over my city._

"Since Klaus has an inability to stay on topic," said Caroline, releasing Klaus from her embrace, "I'll explain what we're doing here. It all started four weeks ago, when Bonnie was visited by a witch from a local coven, asking for help in overthrowing you. We then thought it would be fun to come down here, see what was up, and have a look around. We've been in the city for three weeks now, Marcel, and we did not like what we saw." She gestured to herself, Bonnie and Stefan. "I had other plans in mind, but once we'd been here a while they changed, adapting to new information. It was supposed to be a fun trip which ended in celebrating Klaus's birthday in his favourite city. Now, it's a fun trip ending in celebrating Klaus's birthday in his favourite city, where he is the king."

"You may have the support of the witches, but I'm still the king. And it will be a messy battle before I ever give that up."

Caroline looked perplexed at his statement. "Did you actually think we would come here, and tell you all our plans before we implemented them? It's already done, Marcel. Your empire has crumbled, and you didn't even notice."

"You see, Marcel, we've been busy today." Klaus decided he should be the one to tell him. "Bonnie took out the witches; the coven your little witch friend belongs to. Kol, Rebekah and myself took care of the vampires. I'll give you a hint: there are severely less of them now, and the ones that are left are no longer loyal to you. We even had enough time to remove the curse on the werewolves, so the city will be a whole new place come the next full moon. And a new city needs a new king."

Though Marcel was freaking out about all he had lost in the space of a day, one part of Klaus's monologue stood out. "What happened to Davina?" He asked Bonnie.

"She and I came to an agreement. Her help in exchange for her life. I don't take kindly to witches who aid in the death of other witches, but I like Davina, so I offered her the deal. She took it."

"Where is she?"

"Back at the church you were keeping her in. She seems to think you care about her, and will take care of her. She has no magic, by the way. I hope she's still right." Bonnie was laying it on a bit thick, but she was serious. She did like Davina, and if Marcel only cared for her to use her for her magic, she deserved better.

"If you intend for me to live through tonight, I will take care of her, magic or no. I've never lied about caring for Davina."

Rebekah was the one to inform Marcel of his fate; "Of course you will live through tonight, Marcel. We've got to bleed the vervain out of you."

"And once we have done that, and compelled you to never return, you will leave New Orleans," Klaus said. "I realise you have never lived anywhere else, so I imagine it will be quite an adjustment."

"Speaking of moving," said Bonnie, "Now that New Orleans is down one coven, and the balance of witches has been tilted a bit less in their favour, I might stick around."

"Bonnie! I thought you liked living with me." Kol was shocked. He had thought they were getting along together well, and was hurt that she wanted to leave him.

"You're coming too," she said, like he was an idiot for thinking otherwise. "We already have a place to live," she gestured at the surrounding mansion, "and I said when I came in that we could redecorate."

"Well I've heard Niklaus has just finished a painting that will no doubt look lovely in here," Elijah said as he came through the door.

Caroline was incensed. "How does everyone know about that!?" Elijah winked at her, and smiled.

* * *

 **It's finished! Thanks to those still reading and reviewing. I'm considering an epilogue, and may write other stories too, depending on inspiration.**


	11. Epilogue

**I tried to get this up earlier, but the internet has been out for days!**

* * *

 **Epilogue**

"Well, Niklaus, I suppose I should wish you happy birthday." Elijah sauntered into the room, as he was wont to do, with his left hand in his pocket.

"Brother," Klaus said, barely louder than a whisper. His face showed all the emotions he was feeling, before he clamped down and his face returned to the slightly smug neutral expression it usually housed.

"So nice to see you, Elijah. To what to I owe the pleasure?"

Caroline, who was watching with the others, couldn't believe Klaus. For all he knew, Elijah was here to make an overture of friendship, and of family support. And Klaus was being the same asshole that she had tried so hard to get rid of. In front of family, at least.

But Elijah was nothing but patient, and well used to Klaus's idiosyncrasies. "Caroline has lead me astray then? You aren't going to apologise?"

"For what, brother? Your over reaction to a joke?"

"Niklaus I do not believe you using all of my suits to start a bonfire to be a joke. It is a blatant disregard for my person."

"Well it was uproarious. And you did over react, Elijah. Not speaking to us for two years over some clothes?" Kol said, taking Klaus's side once again.

"Niklaus burned over $250,000 worth of my clothes to start a fire to make smores because Stefan told him Caroline liked them. You cannot tell me they were the only things on hand, or even the best things, to start a fire." Elijah directed his comment toward Kol.

"God Elijah, you're such a broken record. If you aren't here to forgive Nik, why did you come?"

"I was under the impression that you would both apologise, Kol." He frowned slightly and looked toward Caroline.

She walked toward the three brothers, her hands held out in surrender. "Okay, so I may have told a tiny white lie to get you here. But aren't you happy to see Klaus and Kol? Didn't you tell me not half an hour ago that you were going to get Klaus something to celebrate his birthday? And Klaus, Kol, aren't you happy to see Elijah?"

Elijah had almost forgotten his impulsive purchase on his way to their old home with Caroline. He reached into his inner jacket pocket and removed the flat piece of coloured cardboard. He held an end in each hand and connected them together to turn the piece of gold cardboard into a three dimensional crown emblasoned with the words 'Birthday Boy'.

"It was a multi-purpose present. Both a celebration of your birthday, and of your new position in the city."

Klaus was oddly touched. He had forgotten these emotions before Caroline had reawakened them in him, and felt himself softening toward Elijah.

"If I were to apologise, would that be the end of it Elijah?"

"I believe it would."

"Good. May I have my crown now? I feel the urge to lord my new position over Marcel."

"Niklaus. I believe you actually have to apologise, not just ask whether you doing so would be enough."

Klaus sighed and everyone in the room could see him gather himself together. "Elijah, I am sorry that I set all of your clothes on fire." He paused for a moment, and then said, "There, is that enough?"

"It is." Elijah proffered the crown, which Klaus put on with a smirk.

"There, love," Klaus directed at Caroline, "You've said repeatedly I need to embrace whimsy in my life. I will consent to wearing this for the rest of the night if that will satisfy you?"

Caroline smiled. That he was not only willing to wear it, but had put it on himself, made her happy. "Keep it on for later, handsome," she said with a wink. "But really, I think you should give it to Kol when we leave. You may be the new king, and I take full credit for being responsible for that, but I got a call earlier today about our house being ready, and I really want to actually live in it," she ended on a slight grimace. "Just for a few years. And Bonnie will keep Kol in line, so the city wont be in ruins when we come back."

"I resent that! But keep the cardboard, Nik, I'll get real ones made for Bonnie and I."

"Do it and die. You know I hate grandiose gestures, Kol." Bonnie said with an unimpressed but happy face, looking forward to moving to New Orleans and facing the consequences of her actions. She needed to keep an eye on Davina's former coven, despite them having no magic of their own. There were several more covens in the city they could turn to, and Bonnie wanted to recruit them to her side before they tried anything. She focused her thoughts, and said, "Should we maybe do something about Marcel now?"

He had been standing with the group, all but forgotten since Elijah's surprise entrance, but unsure what to do with himself. Now everyone turned to him at once, and it was Rebekah that said, "It's been a while since I've been here. Brothers, you had a look around waiting for us to arrive, did you see anywhere to bleed the vervain out of Marcel that will cause the least mess?"

"We did." Kol answered for the both of them.

"Well, you two get on with doing that and I'm going to go see where the caterers have gotten to," Caroline said.

"Caterers?" Questioned Klaus.

"Of course. It's your birthday. What's a birthday without cake and presents?"

* * *

When Klaus and Kol came down the stairs, having chained Marcel into a shower and leaving him impaled with a steady stream of blood coming out of the gaping wound, they found the courtyard in a completely different state than the one they had left it in. There were streamers and balloons everywhere, and a table with finger food to one side. The other tables held a variety of presents, and an enormous cake.

"I tried to fit over a thousand candles on it," said Caroline, coming up behind Klaus and wrapping her arms around his waist, "but there just wasn't enough room. So it has four hundred individual candles, and the rest are spelled out in number candles on the top." She perched her chin on his shoulder, and he could see she was wearing a pointed party hat with the string under her chin. Bonnie was trying to get one on Kol, and they could hear her squeals of laughter as he tried to stop her any way possible.

Klaus leaned back into Caroline's embrace, and said, "I love you."


	12. Epilogue II

**Epilogue II**

Marcel was fucked. He had been bleeding out in the shower of his own damn house for three days. When they had put the chained cuffs on him, he had done his damnedest to break them. He knew he would only get weaker as he lost more blood, but even at full strength he couldn't break himself free of them.

The three days had given Marcel some uninterrupted thinking time, with only Rebekah's boyfriend coming in from time to time to make sure he hadn't dislodged the metal pole Klaus had shoved through his abdomen. The period of introspection had been exactly what Marcel did not want, and he reflected on many of his recent and somewhat less recent actions with regret.

The Mikaelson family were well within their rights to be mad at him, and to have taken back their city. When he and Rebekah had schemed to bring Mikael to New Orleans all those years ago, and had succeeded, Marcel had once again chosen his gain over Rebekah's love. Yes, the Originals had left, had fled from their father and left him, but Marcel had known how to find them. You didn't live with someone for as long as he had; from boy to man to vampire, and not learn their habits and how they thought. If he had really wanted to he could have found them. Instead he had stayed in the city of his birth and used his position as the adopted son of Klaus Mikaelson to take over in the power vacuum their hasty exit had left. He could admit now that the station of his birth had enabled him to make some stupid choices in the name of showing everyone he was better than what he came from; born to a slave and a slave from birth himself.

Mikael had left very few vampires alive in New Orleans on the hunt for his children, and it had been easy enough for Marcel to sway those that were left, and make more who would follow him without question. The werewolves and witches had taken a lot longer, but eventually he had controlled the city unopposed. This last year, with the witches finally backed into a corner, he had been the undisputed king. It was only fitting that his hubris had been his downfall; in thinking himself invincible and beyond the reach of those below him, he was instead knocked down from above. And they had done is so easily. Less than a month it had taken Caroline to plot and watch, and only a day to execute her plan to perfection. He had heard naught a whisper about her presence in the city, nor that of the witch or any of the others. His supposedly unassailable network of allies had been dismantled in a day and he had been totally unprepared. He remembered walking in to his house, eyes focused on his phone, waiting for a report from the guys he had had following everyone as they left the bar, and being blindsided by Klaus and Kol.

Marcel shook himself out of his past mistakes, and focused instead on the more recent ones. The biggest being his treatment of the witches, who had practiced in their own way for longer than vampires had been alive. He had had no business interfering with their affairs, as much as he was glad he had saved Davina. His actions, which were always done with the aim of full control of the city, had both gained and lost him a kingdom. Outlawing magic, and using Davina to find those that disobeyed him, had been a mistake he would regret for a long time. He didn't particularly care about killing the witches, but he cared that he had used Davina's power to betray her birthright. He also cared that it was the killing of the witches that was their final straw; they were coping to an extent with not using magic, but the deaths of their fellow witches was too much. They had been the ones to call for help, and bring Bonnie and Caroline to New Orleans. Of course, it hadn't worked out how they had expected. They too were now as powerless as Marcel, but at least they had the benefit of not being chained to a shower.

 _All mistakes,_ thought Marcel, _to remember for next time._

He raised his head from where his chin was resting on his chest and smiled, looking forward to the next city he would conquer. After all, he was only a couple hundred years old. He had time to perfect his methods. _If only someone would remember I'm stuck in the shower, and come and free me._ Until that happened though, Marcel was fucked.


End file.
